Elf (2003)

This film is another Christmas classic.
Here, a human accidentally crawls into Santa's toy bag and thus finds himself in the North Pole. Buddy (Will Ferrell), as he is named, thanks to the label on his diaper, spends his life believing he is an elf, though there are some noticeable differences, including his massive height.  He finds out after overhearing it from other elves, including Peter Billlngsley, forever known as Ralphie from the ultimate Christmas classic A Christmas Story. Naturally, he is devastated. Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) tells him the truth. He was put up for adoption, and his birth mother later died, but his father, who never even knew that he was born, is still alive, living in New York and on the naughty list.
Buddy journeys to New York and finds his father, Walter Hobbs (James Caan), a nasty book publisher, who cares only about money. Walter does not believe him and sends Buddy away. However, Buddy finds a home at Gimbels, a Macy's like replica. He is not even hired because he is wearing his elf outfit, which is what he always wears. Here he meets Jovie (a blond Zooey Deschanel), his one true love, because a good Christmas movie needs some sort of love story. Things do not get off to a good start because the next morning, Buddy goes into the women's locker room because he heard Jovie's beautiful singing voice and he was curious. Jovie doesn't take this well.
That morning, Santa shows up in the toy shop and Buddy is devastated to discover that it is not the real Santa. He ends up in jail and calls Walter, who reluctantly bails him out. A DNA test later, Buddy comes home with Walter. Walter's wife, Emily (Mary Steenburgen) and their son, Michael (Daniel Tay) take the news better than he does.
The movie plays out, coming to the climax when Santa's sleigh crashes in Central Park, Buddy is there to help, as during Walter's big conference with famous author, Miles Finch (Peter Dinklage), Buddy arrives and ruins everything. He is tossed out. He feels lost and forlorn, knowing he fits in nowhere. Luckily, he helps Santa with the sleigh and with help from Michael, who presents the naughty and nice list to the TV cameras. Jovie also faces her fears and sings in public, causing New York to get its Christmas Spirit back, which causes Santa's sleigh to fly on its own. The film ends happily, with Walter forming his own company and becoming a human being again. Buddy and Jovie end up together and have a daughter, named Susie after his mother, and visit Papa Elf from time to time in the North Pole. All is right in the world.
The film is quite good, with great performances all-around, though Jovie's character is horribly underdeveloped and underwritten. Will Ferrell is completely believable as an Elf struggling to find his way in the crazy town of New York City, sending his father some sexy underwear because the sign told him it was for someone special. The film is hilarious and heartfelt and clocks in at just over ninety minutes, so the timing is right. It is one that I will forever watch every Christmas. Grade: B+